Explanation:
While hunting for
meteors
in the night sky above the
White Mountains near Bishop, California, astrophotographer James Young
instead captured this brilliant
celestial apparition.
Recorded near twilight on August 13, the bright streak is
not the flash
of a meteor trail but sunlight glinting
from a satellite.
The satellite, Iridium 52, is one of a constellation of Iridium digital
communication satellites in Earth orbit known for producing
stunning, predictable "flares" as they
momentarily reflect sunlight from shiny antenna surfaces.
For well placed observers, the peak brightness of this
Iridium satellite flare
reached about -6
magnitude, not quite as
bright as the half illuminated moon.
At magnitude 2.5, the bright star at the left is
Alpha Pegasi, a star in the
constellation Pegasus.